Foreign banks target Chinese wealthy

Overseas investment may become more of a choice for China's richest families as foreign private bankers are looking at offshore opportunities for their Chinese customers to avoid tougher regulations in the country, a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey said.

The report, published on Wednesday, surveyed 200 institutions from more than 50 countries, with 24 percent of the respondents coming from the Asia-Pacific region, including four to five major banks on the Chinese mainland with private banking business.

Although the report found that the Chinese mainland is the leading market for private banks targeting new clients over the next two years, 88 percent of the respondents said that they regarded offshore transactions as a first choice for potential Chinese clients.